093_HR0405

 
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 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, In Illinois, more  than  4,700  men,  women  and
 3    children  are  among  the  80,000  across  the  United States
 4    awaiting lifesaving organ transplants; and

 5        WHEREAS, Each day, about  100  names  are  added  to  the
 6    national list, while an average of 17 people die waiting; and

 7        WHEREAS,  Just as important is the donation of lifesaving
 8    and life-enhancing tissue including bone, skin, heart valves,
 9    ligaments,  tendons,  and  major  blood  vessels;  more  than
10    750,000 tissue transplants are performed  each  year  in  the
11    United States-about 2,100 a day; and

12        WHEREAS, It is estimated that 1 in 20 Americans will need
13    some  type  of  medical  tissue transplant during a lifetime;
14    despite  the  number  of  transplants   performed   and   the
15    anticipated  future  need,  just  8  percent  of the need for
16    transplantable tissue is currently being met; and

17        WHEREAS, Every 3 seconds, a patient needs life-sustaining
18    donated blood - an  accident  victim,  a  patient  undergoing
19    surgery,  or  a  patient  receiving  treatment  for leukemia,
20    cancer or another disease; and

21        WHEREAS, The demand for blood is greater today than ever,
22    as the  nation's  supply  needs  constant  replenishment;  an
23    estimated  8 million people donate blood in the United States
24    each year, but many more donors are needed; and

25        WHEREAS, Heartland Blood Centers,  a  non-profit  medical
26    organization  supplying  all  blood  and blood products to 34
27    Illinois and Indiana hospitals, must  collect  450  pints  of
28    voluntarily  donated blood every day in order to meet patient
29    transfusion needs in the area it serves; therefore, be it

30        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
 
                           -2-       LRB093 12034 KEF 17180 r
 1    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
 2    we encourage the citizens  of  this  State  to  donate  blood
 3    during "Donate Blood Week" which takes place on August 10-16,
 4    2003.